Santorum: Obama sought Pope 'spin'

Former Sen. Rick Santorum says the accounts of the president’s conversation Thursday with the Pope make it sound like the two were in different meetings, and he says President Barack Obama is trying to “spin” the situation to “piggyback on the popularity of the Pope.”

The Pennsylvania Republican and former presidential candidate on Thursday said he’s more inclined to trust the Vatican’s report of what was discussed in the nearly hourlong private meeting between Pope Francis and Obama, rather than the White House’s accounts.

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“Well, that’s clearly what the president and his, the report about what the meeting was about is trying to do, it’s trying to say there is solidarity between the president and the Pope on these important issues, when in fact, you know, the Vatican is saying something quite different,” Santorum said on Fox News’s “The Kelly File” on Thursday. “The president was hoping he could use his spin machine here in America to dominate the air waves.”

Reporters have questioned the White House and Vatican about the extent of the pair’s discussion of issues important to the Catholic Church like the administration’s stance on birth control, abortion and marriage, but the White House says Francis “actually did not touch in detail” on the issue. The topic came up in broader meetings with Vatican staff, but the administration downplayed its significance.

Santorum said there’s been a tendency in the American press to suggest the Pope has progressive views on the issues, which is wrong.

“Pope Francis hasn’t changed any doctrines of the Church. What he’s done and, what I think he’s done very effectively, is stop focusing on the things that divide us and start talking about what’s important,” Santorum said, which is the Catholic faith.

He said the president is trying to capitalize off the Pope’s popularity, but the Vatican isn’t going to let that happen.

“No offense to the president: That’s not his agenda, his agenda is trying to take some of the things the Pope has said with respect to income inequality, with respect to capitalism, and try to tie into that. It looks to me like the Vatican was having none of it,” Santorum said.

Thursday was Obama’s first meeting with Pope Francis since the very popular leader was installed. He met with Francis’s predecessor earlier in his administration.